Plan9/Email
DIY email client — acme(1), upasfs(4), winwatch(1), and rio(1) is all you need to effectively handle multiple IMAP accounts on 9front…
term% @{ramfs ; cd /tmp ; hget https://9lab.org/vid/plan9/9mail.mp4 > 9mail.mp4 && treason 9mail.mp4}
Overview
The following describes my email setup on 9front, managing three IMAP
accounts (i.e. 9lab.org, gmail.com, and bytelabs.org). A
nested rio(1) window running
winwatch(1) and three
acme(1) instances acting as mail
clients, one per IMAP account, is what I call my mail client ☺
Setup
Note that some of this stuff is shamelessly stolen and modified from the excellent 9front FQA.
Reading Mail
To access my three IMAP accounts I run the following:
% cat $home/bin/rc/$user/init/mail
#!/bin/rc
# -- 9lab.org
upas/fs -f /imaps/mail.9lab.org/igor &
# -- gmail.com
upas/fs -f /imaps/imap.gmail.com/boehm.igor@gmail.com -m /mail/gmail.com &
# -- bytelabs.org
upas/fs -f /imaps/imap.bytelabs.org/igor -m /mail/bytelabs.org &
wait
# -- 9lab.org folders
@{
for(f in (Junk Trash Sent Hacking Finance House Archive)){
echo open /imaps/mail.9lab.org/igor/$f $f >/mail/fs/ctl &
}
} &
…from my $home/lib/profile:
% cat $home/lib/profile
bind -qa $home/bin/rc /bin
bind -qa $home/go/bin /bin
bind -qa $home/bin/$cputype /bin
font=/lib/font/bit/vga/unicode.font
editor=(sam -d -a)
GO111MODULE=on
switch($service){
case terminal
auth/factotum
webcookies
webfs
# namespace lifting
srvfs plumbspace.$user.$pid /n
plumber
rfork n
mount -b /srv/plumbspace.$user.$pid /n
echo -n accelerated > '#m/mousectl'
echo -n 'res 3' > '#m/mousectl'
prompt=('term% ' ' ')
fn term%{ $* }
editor=(sam -a)
$user/init/mail
rio -i $user/init/rio/start
…
Note the invocation of $user/init/mail just before starting rio(1)
Running the above for the first time errors out like this:
upas/fs imap: server certificate 22471E10D5C1E41768048EF5567B27F532F33
not recognized
upas/fs: opening mailbox: bad server certificate
To add this certificate to your system, type:
echo 'x509 sha1=22471E10D5C1E41768048EF5567B27F532F33' \
>>/sys/lib/tls/mail
You will have to do this for every account. The following opens additional
labels or folders such as Junk:
echo open /imaps/mail.9lab.org/igor/Junk Junk >/mail/fs/ctl
It is wise to add the required imap service entries to
factotum(4) to avoid having to type in
passwords. Some examples from my setup:
% echo 'key proto=pass service=imap server=imap.gmail.com \
user=boehm.igor@gmail.com !password=☠' >/mnt/factotum/ctl
% echo 'key proto=pass service=imap server=mail.9lab.org \
user=igor !password=☠' >/mnt/factotum/ctl
% echo 'key proto=pass service=imap server=imap.bytelabs.org \
user=igor !password=☠' >/mnt/factotum/ctl
Having an acme(1) instance per mail account is achieved with this script:
% cat bin/rc/amail
#!/bin/rc
rfork n
fn Help{
echo `{basename $0}^' (9lab|gmail|bytelabs|all)'
}
fn Wait{
while(! test -e $1){ sleep 4 }
}
fn Mail{
label Mail:$1
bind /dev/null /dev/label
if(test -e /mnt/plumb/edit)
bind /dev/null /mnt/plumb/edit
if(test -e /mnt/term/mnt/plumb/edit)
bind /dev/null /mnt/term/mnt/plumb/edit
if(test -e $home/bin/rc/a/mail/Move)
bind -a $home/bin/rc/a/mail /acme/bin
acme -l $home/lib/a/dump/mail.$1
}
switch ($#*) {
case 0
Help
case *
switch($1){
case 9lab
Wait /mail/fs/Archive
Mail 9lab
case gmail
upasname=boehm.igor@gmail.com
Mail gmail
case bytelabs
Mail bytelabs
case *
Mail all
}
}
Note how for gmail.com we set the upasname to the gmail address.
The above assumes you have a folder $home/bin/rc/a/mail that contains the below Move
script (see Appendix) and binds it to /acme/bin:
if(test -e $home/bin/rc/a/mail/Move)
bind -a $home/bin/rc/a/mail /acme/bin
The above also assumes you have dumped the arrangement of IMAP
mailboxes via Dump in acme(1) to
$home/lib/a/dump/mail.$1 where $1 is the name of the mailbox. The
dumps are then loaded with this command:
acme -l $home/lib/a/dump/mail.$1
After some swearing, scratching your head, and trying around, you should be able to fire up an acme instance for a mail account like this:
% amail 9lab.org
The above starts an acme(1) instance with all the
IMAP folders for my 9lab.org account.
With these ingredients you can create a script that opens a sub rio(1), and start three acme(1) instances and winwatch(1) to achieve the same setup as in the screencast:
9front DIY Email Client
Sending Mail
Additional setup is required to be able to send emails. 9lab.org
mails are sent via mail.9lab.org and gmail mails are sent via
smtp.gmail.com.
First lets add the required passwords to factotum:
% echo 'key proto=pass service=smtp server=mail.9lab.org
user=igor !password=☠' >/mnt/factotum/ctl
% echo 'key proto=pass service=smtp server=smtp.gmail.com
user=boehm.igor@gmail.com !password=☠' >/mnt/factotum/ctl
Modify /mail/lib/remotemail to gateway mail through your account:
% cat /mail/lib/remotemail
#!/bin/rc
shift
sender=$1
shift
addr=$1
shift
fd=`{/bin/upas/aliasmail -f $sender}
switch($fd){
case 9lab.org
addr=tcp!mail.9lab.org!587
user=()
case gmail.com
addr=tcp!smtp.gmail.com!ssmtp
user=(-tu $sender)
case bytelabs.org
fd=bytelabs.org
addr=tcp!mail.9lab.org!587
user=()
case *
fd=9lab.org
addr=tcp!mail.9lab.org!587
user=()
}
exec /bin/upas/smtp -a -h $fd $user $addr $sender $*
Note how bytelabs.org and 9lab.org use the same dialstring
as the addr of the smtp server. Furthermore note how the user
variable is set. It is subtle but this setup allows one to use
gmail and a proper mail service in one configuration.
Before this will work you need to retrieve the certificate hash.
This can be done by trying to send an e-mail and then looking for
the hash in /sys/log/smtp:
% echo hello | mail -s test your.username@gmail.com
Then look in /sys/log/smtp for the following error:
cert for smtp.gmail.com not recognized:
sha256=wnu7Uuzq4MlyJHP90+8f2smoh6x3cj0dG5z02jJlX42
Add the certificate to your system:
% echo 'x509 sha256=wnu7Uuzq4MlyJHP90+8f2smoh6x3cj0dG5z02jJlX42' \
>> /sys/lib/tls/smtp
Make sure to include the following mappings as well:
% cat /mail/lib/fromfiles
# files listed here will be consulted for aliases
names.remote
% cat /mail/lib/names.remote
boehm.igor@gmail.com gmail.com
igor@9lab.org 9lab.org
igor@bytelabs.org bytelabs.org
% cat /mail/lib/names.local
# alias file, listed in /mail/lib/namefiles
# postmaster goes to igor
postmaster igor
Obviously you have to adapt the above to your mail addresses.
I have also added mail.9lab.org to /lib/ndb/local:
% grep smtp /lib/ndb/local
smtp=mail.9lab.org
Searching Mail
Searching for emails is accomplished via
acme(1)’s builtin Look command, and
is therefore limited to the contents displayed in a window. To
enable more advanced Search for patterns in various fields (e.g.
from, subject, body, …) the following script can be used by
invoking it in the tag line of a mailbox:
% cat /acme/bin/Search
#!/bin/rc
# Search: "Search [field] pattern"
rfork n
if(! ~ `{pwd} /mail/fs/*){
echo Must run in mail directory >[1=2]
exit 'bad dir'
}
fields=(from to cc bcc date header subject body)
flagfmt=''
args='('^`{echo $fields|sed 's/ /|/g'}^') pattern'
if(! ifs=() eval `{aux/getflags $*} || ~ $#* 0){
aux/usage
exit usage
}
F=$1 ; shift # field
if(! ~ $F $fields){
aux/usage
exit usage
}
P=$1 ; shift # pattern
# -- search for pattern in field
walk -d -n1,1 `{pwd} | sed 's/$/\/'^$F^'/' | xargs -p 10 grep -n -- $P /dev/null
An invocation such as Search from 'rob@plan9.com' will produce
all emails from rob@plan9.com in the +Errors window. Plumbing
the folder path will open the respective message.
Attachements
The screencast shows how to send and open attachements.
It is as simple as typing Attach: /path/to/your/attachement like this:
To: 9front@9front.org
Subject: intro(1): fix typo in BUGS section
Attach: /tmp/man-intro-1.patch
Hello,
Attached is a patch that fixes…
You can also inline attachements using the Include: directive. Read
marshal(1) for more information on
how mail is formatted and sent.
Screencast
Here is the email session as a screencast on youtube to give you a better idea of how this works in action:
Appendix
Save sent files in Sent
I have not yet tried it but sirjofri has a
description of how to automatically save sent files in
Sent.
Moving messages between IMAP folders
rsal shared a patch that enables moving of messages between IMAP folders for upasfs. This is useful if you try to keep your INBOX clean by moving mails into their respective folders. With the patch⁽¹⁾ applied you can move messages between folders like this:
% echo move mbox 9 99 999 Archive > /mail/fs/ctl
That will move message numbers 9, 99, and 999 from your IMAP INBOX
known as mbox to upasfs, to the IMAP ARCHIVE folder known as Archive to upasfs.
Note that the patch has been applied to 9front and is therefore part of the base system.
If you are using acme to read your emails the following small script is useful to speed up moving of messages so you don’t have to write the above by hand:
% cat /acme/bin/Move
#!/bin/rc
rfork n
if(! ~ `{pwd} /mail/fs/*){
echo Must run in mail directory >[1=2]
exit 'bad dir'
}
# -- tgt...IMAP mail box name
tgt=$*
if(~ $#tgt 0){
echo No target folder specified >[1=2]
exit usage
}
# -- src...extract upas mail box name from tag
# 's/^\/([^ ]+).*$/\1/' … get path excl. initial '/'
# 's/\/$//' … drop final '/'
# 's/[^\/]+\///g' … drop everything before last '/'
# '1q' … stop processing after 1 line
src=`{sed 's/^\/([^ ]+).*$/\1/
s/\/$//
s/[^\/]+\///g
1q' /mnt/acme/$winid/tag}
if(! ~ $#src 1){
echo Could not determine source folder >[1=2]
exit usage
}
# -- msgs...extract message numbers from selection in window
msgs=`{ssam 'x/.*\n/ s/^([0-9]*).*\n/\1 /' /mnt/acme/$winid/rdsel}
if(~ $#msgs 0){
echo No messages selected >[1=2]
exit usage
}
# -- move $msgs from $src to $tgt
echo move $src $msgs $tgt > /mail/fs/ctl
Now you simply put Move Archive into the tag of the window that contains messages
you want to move to Archive. After selecting all message lines you want to move
middle click on Move Archive.
patch⁽¹⁾: moving messages between IMAP folders
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/man/4/upasfs
--- a/sys/man/4/upasfs Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/man/4/upasfs Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@
.I fs
to open, close, rename, create or remove new mailboxes,
and also to
-delete or flag groups of messages atomically.
+delete, flag, or move groups of messages atomically.
The messages that can be written to this file are:
.TP 2i
.PD 0
@@ -260,6 +260,13 @@
.TP
.B "flag \fImboxname flags number ...\fP
flag the given messages.
+.TP
+.B "move \fImboxname number ... target\fP
+Move the given messages from
+.IR mboxname
+to mailbox named
+.IR target.
+At the moment only supported with IMAP mailboxes.
.PD
.PP
The
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/dat.h
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/dat.h Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/dat.h Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@
void (*decache)(Mailbox*, Message*);
int (*fetch)(Mailbox*, Message*, uvlong, ulong);
void (*delete)(Mailbox*, Message*);
+ char *(*move)(Mailbox*, Message*, char*);
char *(*ctl)(Mailbox*, int, char**);
char *(*remove)(Mailbox *, int);
char *(*rename)(Mailbox*, char*, int);
@@ -215,6 +216,7 @@
void unnewmessage(Mailbox*, Message*, Message*);
char* delmessages(int, char**);
char *flagmessages(int, char**);
+char* movemessages(int, char**);
void digestmessage(Mailbox*, Message*);
int wraptls(int, char*);
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/fs.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/fs.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/fs.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -1242,6 +1242,11 @@
return nil;
return flagmessages(argc - 1, argv + 1);
}
+ if(strcmp(argv[0], "move") == 0){
+ if(argc < 4)
+ return nil;
+ return movemessages(argc - 1, argv + 1);
+ }
if(strcmp(argv[0], "remove") == 0){
v0 = argv0;
flags = 0;
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/imap.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/imap.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/imap.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -1025,6 +1025,29 @@
}
static char*
+imap4move(Mailbox *mb, Message *m, char *dest)
+{
+ char *r;
+ Imap *imap;
+
+ imap = mb->aux;
+ imap4cmd(imap, "uid copy %lud %s", (ulong)m->imapuid, dest);
+ r = imap4resp(imap);
+ if(!isokay(r))
+ return r;
+ imap4cmd(imap, "uid store %lud +flags (\\Deleted)", (ulong)m->imapuid);
+ r = imap4resp(imap);
+ if(!isokay(r))
+ return r;
+ imap4cmd(imap, "expunge");
+ r = imap4resp(imap);
+ if(!isokay(r))
+ return r;
+ m->inmbox = 0;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static char*
imap4sync(Mailbox *mb)
{
char *err;
@@ -1183,6 +1206,7 @@
mb->delete = imap4delete;
mb->rename = imap4rename;
mb->modflags = imap4modflags;
+ mb->move = imap4move;
mb->addfrom = 1;
return nil;
}
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mbox.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mbox.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mbox.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -1137,6 +1137,37 @@
return rerr;
}
+char*
+movemessages(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+ char *err, *dest, *rerr;
+ int i, needwrite;
+ Mailbox *mb;
+ Message *m;
+
+ rerr = 0;
+ for(mb = mbl; mb != nil; mb = mb->next)
+ if(strcmp(*argv, mb->name) == 0)
+ break;
+ if(mb == nil)
+ return "no such mailbox";
+ if(mb->move == nil)
+ return "move not supported";
+ dest = argv[argc - 1];
+ needwrite = 0;
+ for(i = 1; i < argc - 1; i++)
+ for(m = mb->root->part; m; m = m->next)
+ if(strcmp(m->name, argv[i]) == 0){
+ if(err = mb->move(mb, m, dest))
+ rerr = err;
+ else
+ needwrite = 1;
+ }
+ if(needwrite)
+ syncmbox(mb, 1);
+ return rerr;
+}
+
void
msgincref(Mailbox *mb, Message *m)
{
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mdir.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mdir.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/mdir.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -294,5 +294,6 @@
mb->idxread = idxr;
mb->idxwrite = idxw;
mb->ctl = mdirctl;
+ mb->move = nil;
return nil;
}
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/plan9.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/plan9.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/plan9.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -411,5 +411,6 @@
mb->remove = localremove;
mb->rename = localrename;
mb->decache = plan9decache;
+ mb->move = nil;
return nil;
}
diff -r 7c895ae504fa sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/pop3.c
--- a/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/pop3.c Fri May 28 13:02:58 2021 +0200
+++ b/sys/src/cmd/upas/fs/pop3.c Mon May 31 13:55:01 2021 +0300
@@ -624,6 +624,7 @@
mb->sync = pop3sync;
mb->close = pop3close;
mb->ctl = pop3ctl;
+ mb->move = nil;
mb->addfrom = 1;
return nil;
}